Almost all athletes have that coach, the one that you just clicked with. These coaches stick with you, their lessons never you leave and their impact on you will always be apart of you.

Coach,

Your constant positivity, your willingness to push us to be our best, and your never ending support pushed all of us to want to be better, not just as athletes, but as people. You bonded us as a family, from early morning practices to long bus rides home and lots team bonding, you encouraged us to be there for each other always, to be more than teammates, but a family. Thank you for giving me life long friends.

Thank you pushing me and always seeing the best in me. When it was a cold October morning at 8 am and I was tired and so over school and practice, you always reminded me to push harder, and always put in 100% effort. Your constant push for me to achieve everything you thought I could (which was far more than I thought) always gave me the extra motivation I needed to finish those college applications, write my paper, and show up for practice.

As my senior year went along, I was so over high school and so ready for something new and my attitude could definitely show that, Thank you for being patient with me. For those times when you knew something was wrong and you knew I just needed space and for those times when I needed to complain for an hour about something I was probably overdramatic about. You always respected what I needed and never failed to be there.

Figuratively or literally, you were always there when I fell. You never let me stay down too long, but you always reminded in the end I am the only person that can help myself, but you would always be there. Thank you for picking me up when I fell.

We were always more than athletes to you, you saw us as everything we were: our failures, our successes, our friends, our families, our joys, and our downfalls. Thank you for caring about our entire well-being. You understood when I was having a bad day, or stressed about school, or my head was pounding that those impacted my play and me as much as a broken bone or pulled muscle. You always reminded me to take care of my entire being, physically and mentally.

Thank you for always believing in me. When I had every doubt in the world about my future, you consistently said I had such a bright future and everything would work out (its getting there). Lastly, Thank you for continuing to be a part of my life. You are always a call away and for that, I could not be more grateful. To know you are always in my corner, even from states away, is so comforting. You had always been there and I don't doubt you that you will always be there.

Love,

A Forever Grateful Player

To the coaches who always saw the best in every part of us, thank you; your impact on young athletes shapes us in more ways than you could ever know and our gratitude for you is overflowing.